"I ended up hopping on the train with the bike, with the granny on the free travel"

Ciaran Kilkenny was so annoyed by a costly missed free against Longford’s U21s that he cycled to Portlaoise in a rage – but got the train back.

Giving an insight into his winning mentality, the frontrunner to collect this year’s Footballer of the Year award has recounted the amusing story of how badly the 1-6 to 1-5 defeat to the midlanders in March, 2013 affected him:

“We played Longford down in Parnell Park. I missed a free in the last minute of the game to draw,” the Castleknock ace told RTE. “I was so annoyed that night that I ended up cycling to my granny's house in Portlaoise.

“I was so frustrated about the game that I needed to burn off the energy - two or three hours I'd say. I'm a very competitive individual. I was very upset about the loss so I ended up cycling. My glutes were in bits for a couple of days.

“I just thought 'I need to do this. This will drive me on and make me a better player. It was late enough. She was just thankful I was alive! Lucky enough, she was still awake. I knocked on the window and she opened it up.

“I was a bit sore the next day so I ended up hopping on the train with the bike, with the granny on the free travel. So I got home anyway.”

And, since partaking in the impromptu cycle, Kilkenny has helped himself to five senior All-Ireland medals!